Inconsistency: the Achilles Heel of any Customer Experience program

Written by Vivek Jaiswal | Co-founder, Customer Guru

Did you achieve your 2015 customer experience goals?

Improving customer experience was one of the top 10 goals in 2015 for almost every customer centric business leader. Several CEO’s around the world kickstarted an NPS program or a Customer Centric culture change to steer the organisation in a new direction – towards sustainable growth by delivering exceptional customer experience. The planning was meticulous and many companies even got consultants to help rollout the CEx program, then why did some of them fail to achieve their CEx goals!?

The answer is ‘inconsistency’. Inconsistency in focus on CEx improvement. Inconsistency in asking for customer feedback. Inconsistency in acting on feedback.

Just like an organisation is consistently focussed on improving product quality, increasing profits, expanding market share etc. it should also be focussed on bringing consistency to its CEx efforts. Most importantly, I believe, consistency adds the following advantages to a CEx initiative:

1. It builds trust

When something is done over and over again with the same rigour and enthusiasm, people start trusting the motive behind your action. It is important to regularly and consistently communicate that improving customer experience is one of the top goals for everyone. Shift the focus of your NPS program from gathering customer feedback to understanding what can be done to improve customer experience. Do it for days, weeks, and months and everyone – including your customers, will know that the company is relentlessly working towards improving CEx.

2. It builds momentum

When an initiative is kickstarted, enough internal marketing is done to develop enthusiasm and get the ball rolling. However, we all know that, unless the initiative is backed with consistent thrust, the enthusiasm dies out quickly. On the other hand, a constant push keeps the program in motion and, as more people get onboard, it gains momentum. Consistent communication and drive from the top will help the initiative become a self-running engine.

3. It inculcates a habit that converts into culture

It takes more than 21 days to form a habit. In his article – Habit Formation: the 21-days myth, Jason Selk tries to bust a popular belief that if a task is completed everyday for 21-days, it becomes a habit. Unfortunately that’s not the case. Similarly, for organisations looking to create a customer centric culture change, they should be willing to put more than 21-days of efforts.

Improving customer experience is as important as making profits. Therefore, may I urge you to include ‘consistency’ in your CEx goals for 2016?

Customer Experience is the only true differentiator for brands today. It is a very broad…

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Customer Guru is a boutique consulting firm that helps its clients become customer centric. From implementing the best customer experience metric to supporting change management, Customer Guru also read more...